Galway The Pick

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with all of the action coming on the flat from Leicester, Goodwood, Windsor and Catterick.  The pick of the day should be the 0-105 staying handicap at Goodwood, but once again, is has only attracted five runners and the topweight is 9lbs below the ceiling for the race.

Fortunately there is a card from Galway and there are at least ten runners in each of their eight races including the 1m4f Listed contest for fillies and mares at 6.30pm.  Haparanda is the likely favourite, but it also features the flat return of last season's Newmarket Cesarewitch winner, Great White Shark.  Surely she is going to struggle to keep with them over this much shorter trip on good ground?

There are no runners from Pond House today, although we are back with a runner at Uttoxeter tomorrow.

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There is more football World Cup qualifying action tonight and Scotland are involved in an important match as they visit Austria.  Scotland are currently only third in their group, trailing Israel by two points.  Israel gave Austria a 5-2 thumping, so let's hope the Scot's can do something similar, otherwise their World Cup hopes could be over before they have even begun.

England managed to snatch another defeat from the jaws of victory as they were beaten by 157 runs by INdia in the fourth test at the Oval yesterday.  It was a tall order to chase the big total they had been set, but it was disappointing nonetheless that they were unable to bat out the day having started with all ten wickets in hand.  They now trail the series 2-1 with just one match remaining.

It has been announced that Valtteri Bottas is to leave Mercedes at the end of the season and will go to backmarkers Alfa Romeo in one of Formula One's worst kept secrets.  That opens up the way for Mercedes to announce the signing of young Brit George Russell.  Russell has been totally outdriving the equipment available to him, whilst Bottas has been underperforming in the best car on the grid, winning only nine races in five years.  Hamilton continues to say that Bottas is the best team-mate he has ever had...hardly surprising considering he is no competition for him.  The arrival of Russell would certainly keep him on his toes.

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What do you call an alligator in a vest?  An investigator!